FILFAR ORANGE LIQUEUR

The Traditional Cyprus Orange Liqueur.

A subtle blend of sun-ripened oranges with aromatic herbs from the hillsides, handed down since the Venetian era. Tangy but mellow, warmly golden, distinctively Cypriot...

History & Heritage

At one time, the recipe for Filfar was known only by one person - Takis Philippou. During the 1940s, Takis worked for the British Army in Famagusta. His job was in the cookhouse where he prepared jams and marmalades. As a young lad he had often watched his grandmother make an orange liqueur using a recipe that her ancestors had inherited from the monks at Kantara and some years later he decided to try and recreate the liqueur.

The name FILFAR was given by accident. He actually wanted to name it  “FILFAB” the three first letters from his surname “FILIPPOU” and the first three letters “FABRIQUE”. The registrar’s office took the last letter as an “R” and registered the name as FILFAR.

In the beginning he made bottles to give friends at the Army camp. He and his drink became popular and it was said that one bottle had even made its way to Buckingham Palace! As time passed, friends encouraged him to start manufacturing the liqueur commercially and in 1943.

Filfar proved so successful that in May of 1974 he decided to move the business to a new larger factory, but unfortunately he lost everything just two months later in the Turkish invasion of the island.

A chance meeting with Demos Aristidou, the Managing Director of Damaris Wines & Spirits Co. Ltd., meant that his dream of seeing rows of Filfar bottles in the local supermarkets would come true. Demos had been studying Travel and Tourism in Canada in 1974 when the lecturer asked the students to each describe a product for which their country was famous. Demos had told the class all about Commandaria, the Cypriot dessert wine, but at the end of his talk his teacher asked him why he had not talked about Filfar and Demos admitted that he did not know the liqueur.

Shortly after returning to Cyprus, Demos happened to meet Takis and after many days of discussion, Demos agreed to buy the secret recipe from the elderly gentleman and in 1991 (to their mutual delight) Demos began producing Filfar commercially once again.

Production begins in early December each year as the oranges are harvested in the nearby Phassouri Plantation and continues for four months.

With the relocation, we have also built the “Filfar Liqueur House” – a specially built establishment in the picturesque village of Monagri

You can enjoy Filfar in its original Orange, or you can go for our Lemon, Mandarin and the brand new Filfar Bergamot